Q4: Example Exam Answers: Television Comedy

4. (a) Compare how and why two programmes were scheduled on different channels.
State the day, time and channel of each programme. [15]

This question is about Audience and Institution. You need to know about the different channels, the role of Public Service Broadcasters in contrast to Commercial broadcasters, scheduling for different demographics and mainstream verses niche audiences.

Extract from Candidate Script 2: This answer gained 10/15

‘Gavin & Stacey’ was first broadcast on a Sunday night at 9pm on BBC3 as it was believed by the producers that the target audience aged 16-34 would be at home at this time before school / college / work on a Monday morning. ‘Have I Got News For You’ was first broadcast on a Friday night at 10pm on BBC2 as it was believed the target audience would have finished a week at work and be looking to relax.

‘Gavin & Stacey’s’ and ‘Have I Got News For You’s’ target audience are contrasting as ‘Gavin and Stacey’s’ audience fall into the C, D and E category as they are more likely to empathise with the narrative of the sitcom while ‘Have I Got News for You’s audience falls into the A, B and C1 category as the audience are likely to be more educated and find comedy in the satire of the programme as they are more probable to keep up with current affairs.

Both programmes proved to be a success on their niche audience channels and were then switched to BBC1, a mass audience channel as it ranges over a wide demographic with programmes for all such as ‘Eastenders’ and ‘Countryfile’. Both programmes were aired after 9pm as part of ‘watershed’ conveying that they both contain adult humour for a specific audience.

COMMENTARY

Marks awarded and rationale: 10 marks

The script gives time, day and channel for both Gavin and Stacey and Have I Got News For You. This fits the level 2 descriptors.

Any plausible scheduling is rewarded, as examiners cannot be sure which scheduling decision the candidates have studied and with long running programmes there may have been many different forms of scheduling. Some accurate explanation of why the programmes were scheduled in this way – such as a discussion of the watershed – should raise it into level 3. The answer achieves

this with a discussion of why Sunday and Friday nights were chosen, their original scheduling on niche channels and a move to a mass channel, and a mention of the watershed.

However, the answer does not explain why BBC3 and BBC2 chose to schedule these programmes (the rather speculative discussion of audience demographics is not linked to channel) and is perfunctory on time and day, so it cannot reach level 4. Mid-level 3.

4. (b) Discuss in detail how one programme offers audience pleasures. Give examples from the
programme. [15]

This 4b question is about Audience Pleasures and what inspires audiences to watch TV Comedy. You need to focus on Miranda and Bad Education and use them to add examples. Remember this is also about textual analysis, so you must include examples. The examiners say this question is often rushed so make sure you have left enough time to answer it fully.

Extract from Candidate Script 1: Marks awarded and rationale: 10 marks

‘Benidorm’ is a sitcom which is a comedy which is set in the same location with the same characters. This allows the audience to build a relationship with each of the characters as they get to know them, plus the audience is also included in the storyline as they they get to see each episode unfold.

‘Benidorm’ offers us audience gratification because of the various stereotypes presented in the programme. One stereotype presented is the ‘chav’ stereotype, in which we see this in the Garvey family. This can be seen as they are a white British family on holiday in Spain with their own set of normal and values. We can also see the ‘chav’ stereotype come through in them due to the fact that their teenage daughter is pregnant, which is also another stereotype shown in the programme which is teenage pregnancies. This can be pleasurable to the audience as it enables the audience to

feel superior towards to the family allowing the audience to look down upon the characters.

Another stereotype presented is the “snob” stereotype in which we see two of the characters. We see this by the way they both look down upon the other characters, and how they make crude remarks about the IQ of the Garvey family. This can be seen in one episode in which Mrs Garvey was speaking to one of the snobby characters and the snobby character spoke to Mrs Garvey in a very patronising way, making Mrs Garvey look rather stupid. This offers the audience

gratification because of humorous it is to see certain characters being ridiculed. Plus, in some sense it establishes a relationship the snobby characters and the audience due to the audience being able to relate with the characters with them agreeing with.

COMMENTARY

This is a good example of an answer that fails to earn the textual analysis marks for the question as it fails to give detailed exemplification.

This answer shows understanding of audience pleasures by citing various pleasures, such as ‘building a relationship with the characters’, feeling superior to stereotyped characters, and humour. However, the answer suffers from the common fault of lacking detailed examples. This limits its mark to level 3 at best.

There is a reference to the nature of the family, but the section on stereotypes solely refers to characters and does not give examples of narrative events that express their characterisation. This reliance on characters is very typical of answers in this band. There is one more promising reference to one episode that featured a snobby incident, but this is too vague to count as detailed.